Quotes (A BrainyQuote Challenge)
by K.B.Maillet
Summary: Love is not something easily gained, Chopper understands this (Take a quote from BrainyQuote's Topic page and make a fanfiction. Current Topic: Amazing)
1. Age

**Challange: **_Take a quote from BrainyQuote's Topic page and create a short story_**  
****Topic: **_Age_**  
****Characters: **_Luffy and Zoro (Post-Timeskip)_

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"_Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been_"  
**Mark Twain**

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"Luffy...what are you doing?"

"Nothing, Zoro..."

The swordsman grunted, pushing his captain's rubbery face away from his own, "Then stop staring at me, I can't sleep otherwise. Why can't you go bother Usopp or something?"

It was around the early afternoon that Roronoa Zoro decided try to take a short nap after a long training session. The weather was fair, clear blue with not a cloud in the sky and a soft breeze to ruffle his hair. The Love Cook was busy in the kitchen, making something for the Witch which meant he wouldn't be bothering him for a good portion of the day. They were sailing gently across the waters of the Grand Line and everything was quiet for the moment that Zoro decided it was time for a nap. Laying in his customary position on the deck, the Marimo leaned his swords on the railing to his right and folded his arms across his scarred chest, allowing the gentle rocking of the Sunny and the sounds of the seagulls to lull him to a certain state of sleep where he could still listen to what went on on the deck.

Or he would be if Luffy would stop staring at him.

His young captain wasn't even standing next to him, he was just a few feet away but staring so intensely at his face that Zoro could feel those large brown eyes burning his skin. It wasn't so much the fact that Luffy was staring at him that was bothering him as he could simply sleep through it with out a care (he's had people stare at him before for various reasons), but it was the intensity that creeping him out because he wasn't saying anything...just staring. After a moment though, Luffy seemed to have decided to take a closer look at his face which Zoro couldn't simply ignore anymore.

Now very much awake and very much annoyed, Zoro glared sleepily at Luffy as the boy sat cross-legged in front of him, face set straight that Zoro knew meant that Luffy was serious about something, "He's busy with his plants and he won't let me near them."

Zoro rolled his eye, "If you would stop trying to eat them-"

"But they look so tasty!"

"Don't eat strange plants, damn it! We had a talk about this before!", Luffy puffed out his cheeks and Zoro could tell that he was staring at something on his face. Was it maybe his eye? No one had asked about since he had reunited with them after spending 2 years away though he was quite glad that they didn't as he really didn't want to talk about it. Zoro groaned, dragging a large hand down his face before rubbing his temples, "What?"

"You have wrinkles."

The swordsman faltered slightly at the sudden and bizarre statement, he didn't know whether to be ticked off that his captain had been bother him for his "_wrinkles_" or that Luffy was implying that he was old, "I have wrinkles?" Zoro asked again, as if making sure he head him right and when Luffy gave a solid nod of confirmation, the swordsman groaned again, "I did not have any wrinkles..."

"Yes you do, they're just smaller now."

"Smaller?"

There was a moments pause as he thought, "Yeah, you had bigger wrinkles before."

"You mean when I first met you?" Another solid nod, "How could I have wrinkles before when I was 2 years younger?"

A lot had changed for him over the last 2 years, not only physically but mentally for him as well. His training his Mihawk opened his eyes...umm, his eye...to the fact that he needed to get stronger for not only himself but for his crew as well. He had to be strong to protect _Luffy_ so that he may find the One Piece and become Pirate King, he had to be there so that _Nami_ could finish her map, he had to give courage to _Usopp_ to become a brave warrior of the sea, he had to protect the Sunny so that it could sail across the world for _Franky_, he had to help _Robin_ find the find the Rio Poneglyph (course she would probably just get lost, even with his help), he had to be there when _Brook_ reunited with Laboon, he had to help _Chopper_ discover cures to every disease (which might entail him to be the test subject). Hell, he had to make sure _Sanji_ found his All Blue!

Zoro had to be strong to not only help but to protect his crews' dreams, he'd die trying to. Of course, he had to be serious about it too. He matured over the years because everything they were doing and everywhere they were going, he couldn't afford to be a fool anymore.

_Heavy times lay ahead for you..._

"Ew, no. Not those wrinkles..." Luffy's voice broke Zoro out of his thoughts and the swordsman blinked confused at the boy's disgusted expression before scowling.

"What are you talking about this time?"

"When your face scrunches up when you scowl, you get wrinkles." Luffy pointed to his own face, "But they're all over your forehead, it looks like the ripples of a blanket when someone first lays them on a bed. You're always scowling, Zoro."

"Maybe because there is always something I've scowled at..." Zoro grunted, easing back into his sleeping position with his arms crossed but regarding his captain with a neutral expression, "Like you, as an example, right now..."

"No, you use to laugh before..." Zoro merely rolled his eye before closing it, thinking that maybe Luffy would leave him alone now so that he could enjoy his nap but after a moment of silence, Luffy exclaimed a very loud _OH!_ which nearly sent the (unofficial) First-Mate into the water.

"WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?!"

"Zoro, laugh!"

"...No..."

"Zoooroooo!"

"I said no!"

"Captain's Order~!"

Another tired groan and a soft palming of his face, "If I laugh, will you leave me to nap?!"

A huge, bright grin beamed at him with excitement and joy as a happy _shishishi_ laughter shook Luffy's shoulders, "Sure!"

But Zoro only frowned, finding a slight problem in following the order, "I have nothing to laugh at...though the Love Cook's face is always something funny to look at."

"SANJI!"

"Idiot, I was just kidding!"

Sanji did pop his head out from the doorway to the kitchen to see what Luffy might have wanted but after Luffy asked if he could have some meat, the door was slammed close with a, "I told you to wait until dinner, shitty rubber bastard!"

"Look, I've never been the laughing, smiling person."

"That's not true, you use to laugh a lot! Like remember that one time that huge fish jumped out of the water and swallowed half of Usopp?"

That was right, only the sniper's legs had been visible and he ended up running all over the Merry before bumping into the mast and falling over, rapidly kicking his feet in the air. It had been highly amusing which left everyone rolling on the floor while holding their stomachs as the laughed.

"Or that time Nami accidentally ate one of Usopp's and stuck her head in the dish water?"

Zoro snorted a bit, remembering not only that but how Nami chased Usopp up to the crow's nest all while wielding one of her pens, "I remember that, I also remember the time you got your head stuck in the window after trying to break into the fridge."

Luffy laughed at that, "Sanji was so mad!" And Zoro belted out a hardy laughter as well. It felt good to laugh, he couldn't remember the last time he had such a good laugh though he guessed it had been years since he laughed...ever. Zoro suddenly felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, like all the troubles and dread he left just moments ago had simply floated away in the gentle breeze. The more he and Luffy remembered all the funny things that had happened to them, the more easy it was for Zoro to smile and laugh.

"You're wrinkles are big again!" Luffy exclaimed happily as his laughter died down, "Those ones!" He pointed at Zoro's face, to his eyes and mouth. He lifted a hand to touch his face and under his fingertips, Zoro left the creases as he continued to try and calm his giggles, "I like those wrinkles, you should wear them more often."

"I'll try, Captain." Zoro said with a grin as Luffy grinned back before scrambling up and calling out for Chopper to play with him.

It was around the early afternoon that Roronoa Zoro decided it was time to sleep after a long day of training. The weather was fair, clear blue with not a cloud in the sky and a soft breeze to ruffle his hair. Sanji was busy in the kitchen, making something for Nami which meant he would be busy for a good portion of the day. They were sailing gently across the waters of the Grand Line and everything was so peaceful that Zoro actually had started to feel rather sleepy. Laying in his customary position on the deck, the Frist-Mate folded his arms across his chest, allowing the gentle rocking of the Sunny and the sounds of the seagulls to lull him to sleep, with the memories of all the good times playing in his mind.

_...But don't forget to smile along the way!_

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**Seriously, when was the last time Zoro laughed...or had a happy smile? I'm not even talking about the ones where he is about to face a strong opponent, I mean a genuine happy smile.**

**Anywho, this is a self-made challenge where I'll take a quote from BrainyQuote and make a fanfiction out of it. Since a lot of my fanfictions start with either a quote or a poem, I thought it would be fun...especially since I've been having writer's block too. If you wanna know which topics I'll be doing, just Google BrainyQuotes then click on the "Topic" tab. All the ones that are first listed (there are more if you scroll down) will be the ones I am doing.**


	2. Alone

**Challange: **_Take a quote from BrainyQuote's Topic page and create a short story_**  
****Topic: **_Alone_**  
****Characters: **_Genzo (Pre-Timeskip)_

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"_Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much_"  
** Helen Keller **

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8 years was a long time of waiting...

When Nojiko had told them many years ago of what Nami was planning on doing, how the sweet young girl was going to outright buy back their village for 100 Million Berries from the greedy Arlong, Genzo of the Cocoyashi Village didn't know whether to think of the idea foolish or to cling onto that hope that somehow Nami could pull it off. He did, however, did both.

Of course he thought it was a foolish idea, not only as an impossible dream to achieve since someone would have to work their entire life to earn that much money, but also for the fact that it was highly dangerous. No one, not even another thief, took too kindly to someone stealing their treasure. Everyday, Genzo worried that one day, Nami wouldn't come back home to them. But at the same time, somehow, Genzo knew that Nami was the type of person to pull it off. She had always been very creative and resourceful, not to mention very clever.

Everyone loved Nami with all heart and never wanted anything bad to happen to her, even if it seemed that they hated her for joining Arlong. It hurt him to have seen Nami, the same Nami that would giggle happily at the pinwheel that spun on his hat, the same Nami who would smile brightly at the beautifully ripened tangerines that hung on the trees with Nojiko, the same Nami who would shamelessly use the same "promise" that Belle-mere used to get out of trouble.

To see _his_ Nami run away from them with tears in her eyes hurt worse than anything Arlong could ever to him. If he knew why she had joined that monster from the beginning, he wouldn't had been so harsh on her yet he knew that wouldn't have helped Nami at all.

It would have made what she was going through a lot worse.

Genzo wanted to hold her and tell her that she didn't have to do this alone, that they were there for her and that everything would be alright...but he couldn't because he thought it would just hurt her all the more. It was easy to do something for someone you thought didn't care for you because if you failed, it wouldn't matter much but if you failed someone who cared about you as much as you cared about them, it hurt all the worse.

So, even after the whole village found out what she was doing and started to cry out how much they wanted to help, Genzo thought it best if they didn't do anything and continue to act as if they hated Nami for joining Arlong. Genzo understood that if Nami knew that they still cared about her, if she knew that if she died that they would be upset, she wouldn't take as many risks as she did and they would be forever stuck in Arlong's gasp.

The ginger-haired thief was their only hope, they put so much faith in her. They all knew where she kept the money and so everyone made sure to guard it with their lives. If Arlong or anyone else discovered how much money was hidden under the groves, they would tear up the last remaining piece of Belle-mere to get it.

They wouldn't stand for that.

8 years was a long time of guarding...

But when the day had finally came where not only the Marines had finally heard their pleads but Nami was so close to obtaining her targeted amount, they watched as fishman and Marine alike crush their hope until there was literally nothing left.

Those Marines who tried to save them died.

The money Nami had stolen for 8 long years had been taken.

And when their only hope came back to them looking so broken and so lost, eyes red from tears she tried to hide from them behind a smile, it drove them over the point of no return. They gathered in numbers, raised in the air whatever weapon they could get their hands on, and cried out vengeance. Of course, Nami tried to stop them, to tell that that everything was going to be alright because she could simply start over. But no more did he want to see her return to them with a broken soul, no more did he want to just stand idly by as one young girl tried to save them all.

If he was going to die, he was going to die letting Nami know how much he cared for her and how he wasn't going to stand for Arlong hurting her ever again.

As the clouds turned gray, as though they knew of his rage and anguish, everyone marched to Arlong Park to settle things once and for all. Yet they couldn't pass through as two young men blocked their path with swords and telling them to leave everything to Luffy and the crew. Honestly, Genzo didn't want to do such a thing but he put faith in the kid (even after Arlong threw him into the ocean). Genzo understood that in order to save them and to save Nami, he had to have faith in Luffy. He and Nojiko helped Luffy out of the water and saw him rocket off to put an end to their misery.

And he succeed with making Arlong Park and Arlong himself fall and crumble into nothing.

And for a brief moment, Genzo thought about what would have happened if the Straw Hats hadn't of come by to help them out, he thought of what might have happened if he and Nojiko simply stood there with the rest of the villagers to watch the swordsman and the cook battle Arlong and his fishmen.

Of course, he could worry about all that later now. For now, it was a joyous time as everyone shouted out their pleasure and sobbed their relief that their nightmare for 8 long years was finally over. What they had to do now was celebrate!

3 short days was a great way to celebrate...

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**As soon as I saw this quote, I immediately thought of Genzo and the whole Cocoyashi Village. Really, I loved the Arlong Arc, it was the first time in One Piece that I bawled my eyes out. Wahhh, poor Nami-swan! DX**

**Thank you Angel-chwan for the review~! You made me very happy ^^ (Also I can't wait for your next Birthday Update, the last one was very good XD)**

**Also I've decided to try and post at least one per-day (excluding right now) and if I miss a day, I'll make it up by posting another (but I won't post up 3 in one day if I miss 3 days). This doesn't mean I won't be working on another chapter when I'm done, it just means that if I finish it...I just won't post it up yet.**

**The next Topic will be: Amazing**


	3. Amazing

**Challenge****: **_Take a quote from BrainyQuote's Topic page and create a short story_**  
****Topic: **_Amazing_**  
****Characters: **_Chopper (Pre-Timeskip)_

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"_It's such an amazing thing to be loved for who you are_"  
**Debra Winger**

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At the beginning, he had nothing.

Before he was ever Tony Tony Chopper, he was just a normal little reindeer...just with a blue nose. It was because of that nose that his own family deserted him, left him alone in Drum's icy cold weather to either fend for himself or to die. He would still follow them though, they were all he had, even if it wasn't much. Somehow though, Chopper knew deep down inside they would never except him for what he was.

He was a freak with a blue nose, after all.

But whether it be naivety or wishful hoping, the small out-of-place reindeer followed not too far behind every time they journeyed to a new location on the mountainous island. They just ignored him, paying him no attention but always seemed to stick their noses a little further in the air whenever they were near him (It was the only form of recognition they gave him, anyways). Part of him at that time was curious as to why they hated him so much, he didn't understand why. What had he done to deserve his family's hate towards him?

Sometimes, when the winds were raging and the snow was so heavy that no one could see nor hear him, he'd think about that question to a point where it would hurt too much to think about anymore and cry himself to sleep.

The times were hard for him, sometimes he had to go the day without eating because the herd would get to everything first before he could. They knew how hungry he was but never offered him a single piece of food. One day, when he had went without food for 3 days, he happened across a strange looking fruit that laid in the snow not too far from the cliff side near the shores. He looked around to see if anyone from the herd was near, as they usually chased him away, before opening his jaw wide and sinking his teeth deep into the flesh of the fruit.

It had to have been the worst tasting thing he had ever eaten, it didn't stop him from eating the whole thing. In the end, he didn't feel full at all. In fact, he had felt positively sick. His limbs started to ache, his stomach rumbled painfully, his mind fogged over with hazy awareness. At first, the young reindeer thought he was sick with something which terrified him yet at the same time, there was this strange sense of power welling up inside of him. It felt like it needed-no, wanted to be released. It was slightly terrifying yet at the same time, exhilarating.

With a sudden and rare burst of foreign energy, the once normal little reindeer transformed into something...that wasn't exactly a reindeer anymore.

One of the most noticeably differences was the fact that he was now standing on 2 legs instead of all 4, his body also took on a more rounder shape as well as his head. Frantic for a moment, he touched the top of his head and was relieved to feel he still had his antlers. His snout was much shorter and more round than before, he rubbed his nose in thought before gleefully scrambling over on 2 unsure legs to the edge of the cliff to see his nose.

Nope, still a strange shade of blue. What was worse though was the fact he barely recognized his own reflection and if it weren't for the fact that the reflection made the exact same movements as he did, he would have sworn it was someone else.

This whole knew discovery, instead of freaking him out, intrigued him to no end and the more he moved and tested every movement of his new body, the more excited he got until he couldn't contain it anymore. The trek to his herd had been very difficult, not only being unable to change back to his original form but for the fact that he didn't know how to properly run, but he made it back nonetheless and made an odd squeak of excitement that reminded him of the very young human children.

The results he got were very unexpected since as soon as he made himself known, the whole herd turned to see what strange creature made that sound before becoming absolutely livid, causing him to shrink back in overwhelming fear. This was absolutely different from before, he could tell, and it scared him. Soon, one of the strong male leaders hollered out a warning cry before he and several other males came rushing towards him. He shook and blinked, confused and unsure until one of the males knocked him back with a powerful headbutt that sent his small body flying and crashing into a nearby tree. Course, it wasn't over yet as he looked over to see them charging at him again and the young reindeer-thing had to scramble up less he be trampled on.

That was when he learned how to run.

Now alone, so terribly alone, the reindeer-thing wandered aimlessly with nothing but the howling winds and his soft cries to keep him company. But he didn't give up! If he couldn't make friends within his own herd than maybe (since he sounded and walked like them) he could make friends with the humans. All he had to do was to look like them as his current form didn't look so human. And so, he spent months working on how to use his new form and even discovered he could change back into his original form (though it was very unlikely his herd would let him near them ever again) and into a new form which, to his delight, looked a lot more human...just a very large and hairy human. He went to the local village, happy and excited for the first time since eating the _Hito Hito no Mi_ but what greeted him was far different from what he expected. The villagers shrieked in fear of a monster and it didn't take him long to figure out it was him they were afraid of. Even after trying to appear less intimidating, they still were afraid of him.

He was freak of a monster, after all.

So he ran and hid but they hunted him down and tried to kill him, shooting him in the back every chance they got. Now he was alone, scared, cold, and hungry. He just wanted the hollow and empty pain to just fade away, he just wanted to fade away.

That is, until a strange man had stripped down naked in front of him.

Wait, no, that's not a lovely image to imagine...

A man had came across him, bleeding in the snow, and declared tenderheartedly that he would help the monster to ease his suffering and pain. He wanted to believe him, really he did, but when he caught sight of that gun laying in the briefcase, his instincts told him to defend himself less he be killed. After sending the man flying with a strong punch, that was when the man stood up and-

Let's just skip that part for now. Instead, let us wonder of how the man introduced himself as Doctor Hiluluk after taking the monster back to his place to heal up. Let us remember how, after a small mishap with something that might as well been TNT, Hiluluk dubbed the monster Tony Tony Chopper. Let us know how Hiluluk taught Chopper a lot more than medicine, he taught him how to dream and have hope for better things. Let us think of how the crazy doctor thought of him as a kind but interesting creature.

But Chopper wasn't to sure if Hiluluk accepted him for what he was, a freakish monster with a blue nose.

It hurt when Hiluluk told him to leave after a year with him, but Chopper thought that maybe if he got the mushroom that the doctor wanted, he could be willing to accept him. Braving not only the elements of Drum Island but his own herd (which made him flinch whenever he thought of them), he sought to find that single rare mushroom and if he died trying, it wouldn't matter. He just wanted the doctor again.

But in the end, he found it and brought it to the doctor, broken and bleeding.

But in the end, it made no different, Doctor Hiluluk died and Tony Tony Chopper was left all alone...or so he thought.

During that same day, a new doctor (though a much more crazy one at that) took him under her wing as a pupil. Doctor Kureha began to teach him and Chopper was determined to learn everything he could so that something such as with Hiluluk never happened again. For 6 long and difficult years, Chopper learned and trained under the watchful eye of Kureha with nothing but his own determination to drive him forward. As the years passed, he found himself growing fond of the crazy lady doctor and maybe she was too, maybe she thought of his as a pupil or something but Chopper didn't know if she saw what he really was. He was, for all intent and purposes, a monster (and after eating 3 things called a Rumble Ball he developed, there was no way she couldn't call him a monster than).

But then _they_ came, frost bitten and sick. He took them in and they treated them but when the two males woke up, they called him a monster...just like everyone else. Except, this time was different. They called him a monster, yes, but seemed excited at that fact and it wasn't long before the Straw Hat one asked him to join his pirate crew. Chopper refused, he still didn't trust anyone except for the Doctorine.

When Wapol returned, Chopper thought he was going to lose everything he worked so hard to get but Luffy and Sanji fought with Chopper to defend his home and Hiluluk's flag while declaring the same fated words that Hiluluk spoke to him of. With a bang and a blast, everything was right again and Chopper felt a sense of relief that not only his home was safe but there were those who consider him their friend.

After one last attempt to tell them he couldn't join them, Luffy screamed to the heavens that Chopper was joining their crew. Luffy had accepted him for exactly what he was, a freakish monster with a blue nose, and excepted him for something a whole lot more. As the Doctor Tony Tony Chopper sailed away from the snowy island with the pink glow of the Cherry Blossom light fading in the background, he thought back to everything that had happened to him and grinned.

In the end, he got everything he ever wanted.

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**Damn it, I'm tearing up as I'm typing this! I can hardly see the keyboards (I've always been very emotional). **

**I know that a lot of people say that Robin had the roughest childhood but Chopper's back story and just the whole Drum Island Arc had me in tears and personally for me, I think Chopper's was one of the worst because (as I had pointed out) Chopper didn't have a single person who loved him from the beginning of his existence, hell even his own herd tried to kill him just for one small defect.**

**I'm also curious if anyone noticed this but through most of this chapter, Chopper was refereed to either as _he_ or as _something reindeer. _The reason I did that was because he wasn't actually named Chopper until Dr. Hiluluk named him and so Chopper had been refereed to as simply _he _or_ something reindeer_ as Chopper might have refereed to himself as at the time...and this chapter is sorta from Chopper's prospective. **

**Thanks again, Angel-chwan for reviewing and adding this to your following! **

**The next Topic: Anger**


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